Israel at war - what happened on Day 33?

The Israeli army is likely to remain in Gaza in the immediate aftermath of the war until such time as a security architecture is drawn up for the enclave, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday.

“In the immediate aftermath of conflict, it’s certainly plausible that at least some period of time, Israeli defense forces are still going to be in Gaza to manage the immediate aftermath [of the war] and the security situation,” Kirby said.

“But it shouldn’t be the long-term solution. It should not be about the IDF reoccupation of Gaza as a long term governance solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC earlier this week that “Israel will, for an indefinite period, have the overall security responsibly, because we have seen what happens when we do not have it.” 

The White House and the State Department have clarified, however, that the territory must eventually be controlled by Palestinians, possibly the Palestinian Authority, in a situation where both Gaza and the West Bank are unified under one government.

Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman has been warning about the Hamas threat for two decades. The former defense minister sat down with The Jerusalem Post at his office in the Knesset this week to discuss what Israel should do in Gaza, a month after the October 7 massacre that started it all.

“It was clear to me that such a radical religious jihadist movement is a real threat for our future and existence, and in our 2009 coalition agreement, at our insistence, one of the main clauses was to eliminate Hamas rule in Gaza,” he said.

In 2016, as defense minister, Liberman prepared a document that predicted a large-scale Hamas attack. His conclusion then was the “opposite from our whole military establishment, despite their experience and professionalism.

"After I joined the Netanyahu-led government in that May, already in December I had handed him a paper that I wrote with my advisers, describing the scenario that we saw on October 7, 2023. I also gave it to then-IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot and then to the cabinet.”

Liberman stuck by his warnings. In 2018, he resigned because the government accepted a ceasefire with Hamas to transfer money from Qatar to Gaza. Liberman characterized it as “capitulation” to terrorism.

Ukraine’s Embassy in Israel has funded a targeted advert, on X, to tell Israelis that Russia has stood with Hamas, and against global Jewry.

The ad, which is written in both Hebrew and English, reads: “Russia has chosen a side – it stands with Hamas. 

“There is no room for doubt: They host Hamas leaders. They did not condemn the terrible massacre that occurred on October 7. They issue statements against Israel. 

"In Dagestan, there were unprecedented attempts to carry out pogroms against Jews. 

“Israel is dealing with terrorism, and Ukraine is dealing with terrorism. Terror is terror, no matter where and against whom - we must not allow it to grow! Russia = Hamas.“

The image attached shows the Russian and Hamas flags merged, with the captions “Hamassia” and “Let’s unite against terror!”

עבר/Eng
רוסיה בחרה צד - היא בצד של חמאס.

אין מקום לספק:
- הם מארחים אצלם בכירי חמאס.
- הם לא גינו את הטבח הנורא שקרה ב-7.10.
- הם יוצאים בהצהרות נגד ישראל.
- בדאגסטן נעשו נסיונות חסרי תקדים לבצע פוגרומים ביהודים.

בישראל מתמודדים עם טרור ובאוקראינה מתמודדים עם טרור. טרור הוא… pic.twitter.com/lAeriFQ38Q

— Ukr Emb in Israel (@UKRinIsrael) November 7, 2023

Israel’s air force is one of the most professional and one of the most precise in the world, German Air Force Chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday in an exclusive interview during a solidarity visit to Israel.

Speaking to the Post only minutes after donating blood at Israel’s Sheba Medical Center, he said that, “Israel’s air force is one of the most professional air forces in the world - in all respects…in military terms and in accuracy in action.”

Gerhartz added, “Israel has the right to defend itself without any doubt. There is no doubt, especially from the German perspective. Looking at our history, some people say it [Hamas’s slaughter of Israelis on October 7] is like a second Holocaust.”

“Now it’s our full obligation to be at Israel’s side and to show our solidarity. I’m not deep into the military [planning of the IDF], but I met my counterpart, Tomer Bar, Israel’s air force chief, and met your defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as a sign of solidarity.,” he stated.

Powerful Russian anti-ship missiles acquired by Hezbollah give it the means to deliver on its leader's veiled threat against US warships and underline the grave risks of any regional war, sources familiar with the group's arsenal say.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned Washington last week his group had something in store for the US vessels deployed to the region since war erupted last month between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel, shaking the wider Middle East.

Two sources in Lebanon familiar with the Iran-backed group's arsenal say he was referring to Hezbollah's greatly enhanced anti-ship missile capabilities, including the Russian-made Yakhont missile with a range of 300 km (186 miles).

Reports by media and analysts have for years indicated that Hezbollah acquired Yakhont missiles in Syria after deploying there more than a decade ago to help President Bashar al-Assad fight a civil war.

Hezbollah has never confirmed possessing the weapon.

The Rafah border crossing into Gaza was closed on Wednesday due to an unspecified "security circumstance," US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

The United States expects the Egypt-controlled crossing will be reopened at "regular intervals" so that aid can enter the Gaza Strip and foreign nationals can continue to depart, Patel said during a regular press briefing.

Chris Williamson, a former Member of Parliament for the UK’s Labour Party, described Israel as worse than Nazis and the Gaza Strip as a concentration camp in an interview with TalkTV on November 8.

The interviewer asked Williamson whether he thought that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas would benefit civilians in Gaza. The interviewer also added the contextual concerns by UK leaders that a ceasefire would enable Hamas to rearm and reorganize for future attacks.

Julia clashes with former Labour MP Chris Williamson over the Israel-Hamas war.

Chris: “How you can defend a regime which is behaving worse than Nazis?”

Julia: “Why don’t you just come on this show and shout ‘I hate Jewish people’ and save everyone time?”@JuliaHB1 pic.twitter.com/ioi0pBJZ2Q

— TalkTV (@TalkTV) November 8, 2023

In response to the question, Williamson said “Well they [Gazans] are being massacred on a daily basis…So, of course, a ceasefire would be beneficial for the people living in Gaza…”

The interviewer then interjected: “Why are they being massacred?” To which Williamson disregarded and continued “to which, let’s remember, is a concentration camp.”

Police in Brazil made arrests on Wednesday after an investigation led them to discover that Hezbollah-linked terrorists were planning an attack on buildings belonging to the Jewish community, according to Brazilian media reports. 

This is a developing story.  

Sirens sounded across northern Israeli border towns amid suspected infiltration of a hostile aircraft on Wednesday evening.

This is a developing story.

Israeli forces destroyed a Hamas terror tunnel built in the proximity of a UNRWA school in Beit Hanun, the IDF said Wednesday.